Mars Meteorite May Show Old Life

A crystal found in a meteorite from Mars could only have been formed by a microbe and may be evidence of the oldest life form ever found, researchers say. Scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston say that a crystalized magnetic mineral, called magnetite, found in a Martian meteorite is similar to crystals formed on Earth by bacteria. The magnetite crystal was found in a Mars meteorite called Allen Hills 84001, or ALH84001. Researchers at the Johnson Space Center in 1996 announced that the space rock contained microscopic evidence of life, but their claim has been dismissed by most other researchers. E. Imre Friedmann, a biologist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., said an electron microscope examination of ALH84001 had produced evidence of magnetite crystals formed in chains. Friedmann said that on Earth the bacteria that make magnetite forms the material in chains and that these chains are surrounded by a membrane. Under the electron microscope, fossilized images of both the chains and the membrane can be seen, he said.